Lisa notes

“As a general rule, people, even the wicked, are much more naïve and simple-hearted than we suppose. And we ourselves are, too.”
– The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky

In case you weren’t assigned this in high school (I wasn’t) or been industrious enough to read this on your own (it took me 50 years), The Brothers Karamazov is a philosophical novel written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky in 1880. Dostoevsky’s father was murdered when he was a young boy, in adulthood he spent time in prison and in a Siberian labor camp for his political beliefs, and he suffered from epileptic seizures, situations that pop up in this novel in various forms.

The book is set in 19th century Russia, and it tells the story of Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov and his three (and likely fourth) sons.

What I didn’t like about The Brothers Karamazov:

• Dostoyevsky tells stories within the story that have little to no bearing to the larger story (my opinion)
• It is very, very long
• It’s hard to follow on audio because you need to flip back too often
• Several characters have multiple names used interchangeably (and Russian names at that)
• The speeches by the characters go on and on and on
• Details are abundant and often totally irrelevant to the plot
• It is very, very long

But despite it being very, very long (did I mention that?), and other idiosyncrasies, I’m glad I finally read this classic.

What I did like about The Brothers Karamazov:

• I end up caring about even the worst characters
• The good characters (like Alyosha, also known as Alexei, Alyoshka, Alyoshenka, Alyoshechka, etc.,  and Father Zosima) inspire me
• Hearing the names pronounced correctly on the audiobook makes it more fun
• Redemption is throughout it
• It doesn’t gloss over ugly motives or doubts
• Grace ultimately wins over judgment (in weird ways, but still)
• It continues to grow in me even though I’m finished reading it
• It’s insightful and spiritual and thought-provoking on matters of faith and morality and reason

But still, it’s long, just so you know. (Could it have been shortened and retained the same effect? According to my 2014 internet-altered mindset, yes.)

Is it worth reading anyway?
Definitely. Take a few months and plunge in, even if only a little at a time. You’ll be glad you did.

A sampling from the book (without giving away the story):

“He suddenly recalled how he had once in the past been asked, ‘Why do you hate so and so, so much?’ And he had answered them, with his shameless impudence, ‘I’ll tell you. He has done me no harm. But I played him a dirty trick, and ever since I have hated him.’”

“Alyosha was delighted that he had brought him such happiness and that the poor fellow had consented to be made happy.”

“‘And so I hasten to give back my entrance ticket, and if I am an honest man I am bound to give it back as soon as possible. And that I am doing. It’s not God that I don’t accept, Alyosha, only I most respectfully return Him the ticket.’”
‘That’s rebellion,’ murmured Alyosha, looking down.”

“At some thoughts one stands perplexed, especially at the sight of men’s sin, and wonders whether one should use force or humble love. Always decide to use humble love. If you resolve on that once for all, you may subdue the whole world. Loving humility is marvelously strong, the strongest of all things, and there is nothing else like it.”

“But after all, what is goodness? Answer me that, Alexey. Goodness is one thing with me and another with a Chinaman, so it’s a relative thing. Or isn’t it? Is it not relative? A treacherous question!”

“Ah, children, ah, dear friends, don’t be afraid of life! How good life is when one does something good and just!”

* * *

“I’ve yet to meet anyone in America who responds to the question ‘How are you?’ with the reply, ‘Well for starters, I’m not very busy.’”
– Kevin DeYoung

You’re too busy, right? Too much to do, not enough time?

We hear it a lot. We say it a lot. But why is it so? And are we putting our souls at risk because of it?

In Crazy Busy, Kevin DeYoung gives 3 dangers to avoid, 7 diagnoses to consider, and 1 thing to do about our busyness.

3 DANGERS TO AVOID

1. Don’t let busyness ruin your joy

“This is the most immediate and obvious spiritual threat. As Christians, our lives should be marked by joy (Phil. 4:4), taste like joy (Gal. 5:22), and be filled with the fullness of joy (John 15:11). Busyness attacks all of that.”

2. Busyness can rob your heart

“Do you know why retreats and mission trips and summer camps and Christian conferences are almost always good for your spiritual growth? Because you have to clear your schedule to do them. . . . For most of us, it isn’t heresy or rank apostasy that will derail our profession of faith. It’s all the worries of life.”

3. Busyness conceals the rot in your soul

“The presence of extreme busyness in our lives may point to deeper problems—a pervasive people-pleasing, a restless ambition, a malaise of meaninglessness. . . . The greatest danger with busyness is that there may be greater dangers you never have time to consider.”

Those are some of the bad things that busyness can do.

But how do we get to that crazy busy state anyway?

7 REASONS WE’RE TOO BUSY

1. We feed our pride too much

“It’s okay to be busy at times. You can’t love and serve others without giving of your time. So work hard; work long; work often. Just remember it’s not supposed to be about you. Feed people, not your pride.”

Pride shows up in many ways through our desires for: people-pleasing, pats on the back, performance evaluation, possessions, proving ourselves, etc. How do we discern what’s from pride though and what’s genuine service to others? DeYoung says ask yourself this question:

“Am I trying to do good or to make myself look good?”

2. We do more than God expects of us

Too often we carry a low-level guilt that we’re not doing enough, either imposed internally or from other believers.

“We know we can always pray more and give more and evangelize more, so we get used to living in a state of mild disappointment with ourselves. That’s not how the apostle Paul lived (1 Cor. 4:4), and it’s not how God wants us to live, either.”

3. We fail to set priorities

Even Jesus didn’t do everything. We have to set priorities to serve most effectively.

4. We freak out too much about our kids

We take on too much responsibility for their happiness. And we freak them out when we’re always frazzled.

5. We look at screens too much

Um, I think we all understand this one. You’re here, after all . . . . DeYoung suggests occasionally returning to old technology, setting more boundaries, and being more thoughtful about our connectedness with others.

6. We don’t rest enough

“We can’t go without sleep very long without doing our bodies and souls great damage. That’s the way God made us—finite and fragile. He made us to spend almost a third of our lives not doing anything except depending on him. Going to sleep is our way of saying, ‘I trust you, God. You’ll be okay without me.’”

7. We suffer extra because we never expect to suffer

When we expect life to be easy, we’re going to be extra disappointed when it’s hard. And part of life is that we will be more busy at times; that’s not a sin in itself.

“The busyness that’s bad is not the busyness of work, but the busyness that works hard at the wrong things. It’s being busy trying to please people, busy trying to control others, busy trying to do things we haven’t been called to do. So please don’t hear from me that work is bad or that bearing burdens is bad. That’s part of life. That’s part of being a Christian.”

1 THING TO DO

Then finally DeYoung advises us of the one thing we must do (this is not a spoiler alert—you probably saw it coming):

Sit at the feet of Jesus, “because being with Jesus is the only thing strong enough to pull us away from busyness.”

He suggests we do this by devoting ourselves to the Word of God and prayer, to public worship and private worship. I agree that’s part of it, but I’d add we need more awareness of Jesus WITH us in our daily routines of work and play and rest. (Sometimes busyness is an attitude we need to kick as much as a lifestyle we need to change, but that’s another post.)

So would it be worth your time to read this book?

You might not learn much you don’t already know. But, in the short time it takes to read the book, you’ll probably be motivated to decrease the busyness in your life—for everybody’s good. And that alone makes the time spent worthwhile.

* * *

Read more:

• Margin (Richard Swenson)–Let go of overload
• How wide are your margins?
• Are you available?

When someone asks you, “How are you?” are you apt to reply “Busy!”?
How do you tame busyness in your life? I’d love to hear.

My thanks to Crossway
for the review copy of this book